Crying Shoulder
by Midnight Eclipse713
Summary: Oneshot KratosXRaine She ran through the woods, her face wet from the tears and the rain... R&R!


Crying Shoulder

Midnight Eclipse77

A/N: This is my first TOS fanfic and my first one-shot. This takes place after Mithos dies and everyone goes their separate ways. I hope you like it. Pairing: KratosXRaine. Is there a spoiler? Maybe. R&R!

She ran through the woods, her face wet from the tears and the rain. The Gaoracchia Forest may not have been the best place to run for the ground was wet and muddy and the trees cast scary yet intricate shadows along the path. But she didn't care. All she wanted to do was to get away. Why? She was upset over three things. One, half-elf bigotry. She didn't see why humans hated all half-elves. Because she and Genis were not at all like the half-elves of the Desians. The humans didn't take the time to understand and get to know them. Sure, some of them had all of their family turned into Exspheres, and it does feel good to have something or someone to blame, right? But at least they can accept elves who wish nothing to do with it. At least some humans are good, like Lloyd. Two, the reason for her fear of water. She was only about nine when it happened, yet she remembered it like it was yesterday.

/\/\/\/\FLASHBACK/\/\/\/\

Raine climbed up a tree while her mother and Genis, who was no more than a baby, watched.

"Look at me mommy!" Raine said as she clambered out to a branch above the river.

"Be careful, Raine!" Virginia called while clutching Genis tightly.

"Don't worry," Raine said reassuringly. "I'll be-aaah!" (A/N: I don't know how to spell aaah.)

Raine screamed as the branch broke and she fell into the water. She had not learned how to swim so she struggled to get to the surface of the water. But the river's currents were strong and merciless and they swept her back under. She was frightened. She couldn't breathe and she had not taken a breath before she went under. Water poured into her lungs as she tried to get to the surface. Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and began pulling her to the surface. She closed her mouth as to prevent any more water from getting in. Finally, they broke the surface and crawled onto land. She coughed and gasped for air, fitting as much as possible into her lungs.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked her.

She looked to the source of the voice to see that it was her mother.

"You saved me," Raine said. "Thank you."

"You're my daughter. I had to save you. I don't know what would happen if I were to lose you or Genis." She replied as she picked up Genis off of some moss she had sat him on.

Raine looked back to the river and suddenly developed a new fear…

/\/\/\/\END FLASHBACK/\/\/\/\

The last, yet certainly not least thing was her love. She loved someone, yet she was unsure of his feelings. He was always so secretive, so quiet, and so mysterious. He would always be the one to keep the group on track. That was what he was hired for anyway. She was also good at keeping to herself what she didn't want everyone else to hear, but her skills paled in comparison to his. Like the time she almost revealed her fear of water when they were about to go in the washtubs to the Thoda Geyser. All three of these issues piled on top of her, eventually causing her to snap. Currently, Genis and she had recently preached in Sybak. They left the town that morning and that farthest they could get was the Gaoracchia Forest. So they set up camp outside of it. Raine's thoughts agonized her so much that she had finally snapped. She is now running through the forest not caring about what will happen to her, but caring that she gets away from everything. She continued to run despite all of the mud that got on and in her shoes. She just ran. She finally reached a dead end and collapsed to her knees. She sat there with her head in her hands, not caring that the cold mud was soaking her pants. She sat as sobs racked her normally strong body. Then suddenly, she heard something or someone behind her. Whoever this was tried their best not to be heard, but not much could be silenced in all of that squishy mud. She heard the steps coming closer to her until she felt the being standing right over her. She felt the figure bend down and wrap reassuring arms around her shoulders. But she wanted to be alone.

"Go away!" She shouted at the person without looking at him/her.

"I didn't come here to hurt you." Said a familiar voice that obviously came from the figure.

It couldn't be…was it? She looked up from her hands. It is! Low and behold, there was Kratos's face right there in front of hers. He blushed slightly and removed his arms from their position around her shoulders.

"Kr-Kratos?" She said. "What are you doing here?"

His brow furrowed and he suddenly found something on the muddy ground very interesting.

"…I have my reasons." He finally replied.

She got up and said, "Well sniff I should be going."

She held in tears as she walked away. It was beginning to hurt, but she promised herself that she would not cry in front of Kratos. The pain from holding them in was almost unbearable now.

"It's okay," she heard Kratos say. "Let it out."

Still she did her best to keep it in. She closed her mouth tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands formed two balled fists at her side. She couldn't hold in the tears much longer. Finally she began to run, tears streaming out of her eyes as she went. She could hear Kratos following her. She ran down another path, not caring where she was going. She came to another dead end with a huge, rotten tree. She looked behind her and didn't see anyone. She hastily clambered up the tree and sat at its most hidden branch. Her bright orange outfit normally would be easy to spot, but the mud had stained it so much that it looked more brown than orange. Conclusion: she camouflaged perfectly. She stayed close to the trunk and laid low. She could see Kratos through the branches. He spread his luminous wings and flew off over the tree. She heaved a sigh of relief and decided to stay up in the tree a little longer just in case. She sat for a few minutes and after a while, she decided to climb down. She scooted a little ways away from the trunk of the tree and looked at the branch below. She was about to jump down when suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

"Gotcha." She heard a voice say.

"What are you doing?" She shouted at her capturer.

She turned her head and ended up face to face with Kratos yet again. How she was found, she did not know. All she knew was that Kratos had found her and he was going to get whatever he wanted out of her.

"What do you want with me?" she asked him.

"…I just want to help." Kratos said. "I can't stand to see you like this."

As soon as he said it, he regretted it. He flew out of the tree, with his arms still around Raine's waist and shoulders.

"Since when have you become so caring?" She asked him while struggling a little to break free.

"You may find out later if you just cooperate." Kratos answered.

Raine rolled her eyes and stopped struggling. Then she said,

"Let me ask you again. Why do you care?"

He sighed. He thought to himself, _how do I get myself into these things?_

"…Because I…I" he nervously stuttered.

Raine looked at him confusedly. He set her down on her feet and faced her towards him with his hands on her shoulders. Her heart beat in her chest like a hammer beating on a drum.

"…I love you." He finally replied while looking into her eyes.

Her eyes widened. Before she had time for any other reactions Kratos pulled her close and kissed her right on the lips. Her eyes remained wide as the kiss pursued. He finally broke away and yet again found something on the ground that greatly interested him. Raine brought her hand to her mouth and blinked a couple of times. She was overjoyed that Kratos liked her yet still saddened from the other two problems.

"I'm sorry." Kratos said as he began to walk away.

Just as he turned around, Raine caught his arm. He turned to face her and she put on a small smirk for the first time that day. He raised one eyebrow in a confused manner.

"Kiss and run?" Raine said. "Is that your method?"

"Well…I…er" he stammered for he did not know what to say.

She shook her head from side to side and let out a small chuckle. His eyebrow remained raised as he wondered about her notions. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought their faces so close that he could feel her breath on his face. She smirked once more and pressed her lips to his. Afterwards, Kratos asked her,

"Why did you do that?"

She knew she was way too nervous to tell him with words so she tried to think of a better idea. She recalled a past experience of communication between Lloyd and Colette after she had lost her voice. She grabbed Kratos's hand and he said the letters as she traced them out on his hand.

"…I…heart…u…2…"

He looked up at her and she was smiling. He smiled too. Not a very big smile, but still a smile nonetheless. Raine wrapped her arms around Kratos's chest and did her best to bury her head in it. (There's not much you can do with all of that armor.) Kratos's arms made their way around Raine's waist. And there they stood holding each other for a long time. After a while they let go and Raine asked Kratos,

"How did you know I was here?"

"Since I've liked you for…a while, I've followed you and Genis ever since I got back from my latest mission on Derris-Kharlan." He answered.

"Oh," was all that Raine said.

They talked for a while and decided that the next morning, Raine would ask Genis if Kratos could travel with them. So they kissed once more, this one through the will of both of them, and left. The next morning, Kratos came as expected and they went to go speak to Genis.

"Genis?" Raine said.

"What is it Raine-oh hi, Kratos." He said while noticing Kratos standing by Raine's side.

"Well, um…May Kratos travel with us?" She asked.

"Why?" Genis said.

Raine gulped and said, "Well Kratos and I…are…"

"Oh, you mean as in traces a heart in the air using his index fingers?" Genis asked.

"Uh, yeah." Raine replied.

"When did this happen? Overnight?" Genis asked.

"Right again." Kratos said.

There was a break in the conversation but after a few moments Raine broke the silence and spoke.

"So may he come along?" Raine asked.

"I can't say I'm comfortable with this, but sure." Genis replied.

Raine smiled broadly while Kratos had a small smirk on his face. The threesome finished packing up camp and set off into the Gaoracchia Forest.

A/N: There. Six and a half pages. Not too long. Oh well. It's my first one-shot. Actually, if you want me to continue, let me know. Thanks for reading and please review!


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